Two clips from new songs on the forthcoming Van Halen reunion album with David Lee Roth A Different Kind of Truth will be featured tonight (January 25, 2012) on the television program “CSI.”

It’s big news for fans eagerly awaiting the Feb. 7 release date for the first new full-length project undertaken by Roth, Eddie and Alex Van Halen since the days of “Jump” in 1984. (Eddie’s son Wolfgang Van Halen has replaced original bassist Michael Anthony, now a member of Chickenfoot with fellow ex-Van Halen member Sammy Hagar.)

[SOMETHING ELSE! SNEAK PEEK:Stream two more new songs from Van Halen’s upcoming reunion project with David Lee Roth, “Blood and Fire” and “The Trouble With Never.”]

The lead single from A Different Truth, “Tattoo,” will be one of the featured cuts tonight, but also a never-before-heard song — 11th on the previously announced track listing — called “Stay Frosty.”

Van Halen has already released an acoustic version of their Roth-era favorite “You Really Got Me” on the Web, a tune that will be part of the deluxe version of A Different Truth. Van Halen will begin a tour with Roth on Feb. 18.

Here’s a look back at our recent thoughts on Van Halen. Click through the titles for complete reviews …

SOMETHING ELSE! FEATURED ARTIST: VAN HALEN: A long-waited reunion with original lead singer David Lee Roth has Van Halen back in the news … and us digging through some old albums. Here’s a look back at a few favorite moments with Roth — and yes, Sammy, too — along with updated tour date information, a link to video from Van Halen’s recent small-club date with Roth and an early demo of one of the tracks to be included on the forthcoming A Different Kind of Truth, to be issued on February 7. Let’s start shredding!

SOMETHING ELSE! SNEAK PEEK: VAN HALEN, “SHE’S THE WOMAN” (2012): Van Halen’s first reunion gig with original lead singer David Lee Roth included plenty of parachute-pantsed favorites, but there was also one new track. The reformed band played a 45-minute set on Thursday at Cafe Wha?, at 250-seat club in New York’s Greenwich Village. Van Halen opened with “You Really Got Me,” and closed with “Jump,” but perhaps most interesting was their inclusion of this previously unreleased song that was first demoed in the 1970s.
“She’s The Woman” was first recorded in 1976 with producer Gene Simmons of Kiss, then was re-recorded a year later as part of Van Halen’s initial Warner Brothers sessions. Riffs from the track eventually made their way onto “Mean Street,” from 1981’s Fair Warning album.

SOMETHING ELSE! INTERVIEW: STEVE HACKETT ON EDDIE VAN HALEN: Hackett is widely credited with creating the tapping technique later made famous by Eddie Van Halen, first employing the technique in 1971 on “The Musical Box” from Genesis’s Nursery Cryme: “When I joined the band, the song was already written,” Hackett told us. “They were performing it live. So, I came up with guitar parts on top of what they had written. I was trying to come up with something suitable. I thought: ‘I wonder if it is possible to use both hands on the fretboard?’ You could play extremely fast on one string. I quickly realized that the sky’s the limit for anyone who wants to use that technique. Eddie has, of course, acknowledged the influence. I came up with the technique, and he gave it a name.”

THE FRIDAY MORNING LISTEN: VAN HALEN – WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST (1980): Maybe the best thing about this Van Halen deal is the reemergence of the great Roth vs. Hagar debates. I’ve spent more than a little time over the years (and over the last week) reading fan commentary on this and it never fails to entertain. I’ve written enough about musical resonance to know that people have their own reasons, from nostalgia to general musical leanings, for their preferences. What cracks me up is when guys (and let’s face it, it’s mostly guys) start plastering the opposition (because face it, they are now “the enemy”) with all sorts of nasty labels. Gees guys, it’s only rock ‘n roll, you know?

The Something Else! webzine, an accredited Google News affiliate, has been featured in The New York Times and NPR.com's A Blog Supreme, while our writers have also been published by USA Today, Jazz.com and UltimateClassicRock.com, among others. Contact Something Else! at reviews@somethingelsereviews.com.